Yumeko Nozaki/Plot
Volume 8 Yumeko's older brother Umetarou is coming back to visit the family home. Excited, Yumeko's school friends ask what he is like compared to Mayu. She replies that he is mature, which leads her friends to imagine a guy who looks cool and speaks attractively. However, she adds that her brother would also be the result of making Mayu 'plainer and taller'. This leads her friends to imagine Umetarou as the equivalent of Yumeko's father. Yumeko explains that her brother is 'super nice'. For example, Umetarou lets her put the manga that does not fit on her bookshelf on his bookshelf. He also buys her the monthly magazine and adds new manga to her shelf. This implies that he reads shoujo manga, which only serves to make Umetarou appear even less cool in the minds of Yumeko's friends. One of Yumeko's friends asks why she loves shoujo manga to such an extent. Yumeko replies that it is 'really nice' and that she plans to join a 'senpai fan club' in high school. Her friends look down on her with disdain, telling that fan clubs in high school are merely fictional and that she should stop dreaming. Yumeko is surprised by this revelation. She insists that she had been planning to become the president in order to gain excellence points. Her friends question the fact that this is the only realistic part of her dream. Joining a fan club for Suzuki is said to be Yumeko's biggest dream. Her friend points out her obsession with the Let's Fall in Love manga. Enthusiastically, Yumeko gushes that the author, Yumeno Sakiko, is her 'god' and that she would do anything to shake hands with her. (Yumeko does not know that Yumeno Sakiko's true identity is Umetarou.) When her brother walks into the house, she immediately runs out to shake his hand. Noticing that it is now covered in soot, Umetarou tells her to stop trying to shake his hand while hers is still dirty. Yumeko says she thought they could 'share it'. While watching television, Yumeko obliviously turns to Mayu and tells him that Umetarou has been 'joking around' and saying that he is Yumeno Sakiko. She then turns back and continues watching. At first, Mayu is tempted to tell her the truth. However, he decides that it would be too much trouble and ends up lying on the couch instead. In an attempt to collect information for his manga, Umetarou asks Yumeko whether there is anyone she likes at school. Yumeko says no - her type is 'a transfer student who's handsome and nice and smart and strong and good at sports and has long legs'. Umetarou is concerned that her standards are too high from reading shoujo manga. Intending to incorporate these traits into Suzuki, he asks Yumeko which trait she is most interested in. Yumeko replies with 'transfer student'. At home, Yumeko asks Umetarou whether there are any hot guys at his school. Umetarou brings up a photo of Kashima and Mikoshiba on his camera, asking her which one she would choose. When Yumeko points to Kashima, Umetarou tells her that Kashima is actually a girl. However, she still considers Kashima the more attractive of the pair. As she explains to her brother, 'gender doesn't matter when you're only appreciating.' This gives Umetarou an idea. He shows Mayu the same photo and asks him who he would choose, assuming that he will choose Mikoshiba since they are close friends. Instead, Mayu chooses Kashima, the reason being because she 'looks like she would work hard towards a bright future.' As it turns out, Mayu will only consider a relationship where he can relax. Yumeko then asks Umetarou if he has made any female friends at school. Umetarou proceeds to tell her the story of how he met Sakura, quoting that she had caught his eye from the start. This dramatic rendition surprises Yumeko. However, when he mentions Sakura's current role as an assistant for his manga, Yumeko wonders whether she is a figment of his imagination (Yumeko does not believe that her brother is a manga artist). Umetarou desperately tries to convince her that he is Yumeno Sakiko. When he produces an autograph, Yumeko dismisses it as him having become strangely good at replicating autographs. When he attempts to predict what will happen next in the manga - "Mamiko will consult Andachi-senpai when she has a fight with Suzuki!" - Yumeko lists off her own set of ideas for the continuation. Umetarou finds them so interesting that he cannot help writing them down. While calling Mayu out to eat, Yumeko comes across a manga page that he had drawn for his lessons on judo techniques. When she shows her father, he finds it typical that she is shocked. Yet the graphic nature of the drawing is not what Yumeko is shocked about - instead, it is the fact that she is the only family member who is bad at art. Therefore, Yumeko consults her two brothers for some 'intensive drawing training'. She eventually has Umetarou submit one of her pictures to the illustration corner in the Monthly Girls' Romance magazine. When Yumeko shows her friend at school, she is happy to find that the picture had been published. On the other hand, her friend is surprised at how bad the picture is. Yumeko discovers that Umetarou - to save her from humiliation - had submitted the piece of art as being by 'Yumeko (Saitama) - 3 years old'. She is not amused. GSNK manga; Chapter 72.5, pages 1-6 References Category:Character Plots Category:Characters